Did you wake up suddenly and feel dizzy? Researchers raise concern: You risk being affected by this serious disease

The sudden dizziness some people feel when they suddenly stand up from a sitting position may be a sign to take action and take our health more seriously, a new study claims.

Orthostatic hypotension, also known as sudden dizziness, occurs when a person's blood pressure drops significantly after moving to a standing position. This, according to the researchers, could indicate an increased risk of dementia in the future.

The study, published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found the association with cognitive decline syndrome only in people who experienced a drop in systolic blood pressure.

Systolic pressure is the first number in the blood pressure measurement, and orthostatic systolic hypotension was defined as a drop of at least 15 mmHg after standing up from a sitting position.

The study included 2,131 people with an average age of 73 and no medical history of dementia.

Blood pressure measurements were taken at the start of the study and after one, three and five years. In total, 15% of the sample presented orthostatic hypotension, 9% orthostatic systolic hypotension and 6% orthostatic diastolic hypotension.

Over the next 12 years, the health assessment of the participants showed that 462 people (22% of the total) developed dementia.

People with orthostatic systolic hypotension were almost 40% more likely to develop dementia. Specifically, 50 of 192 with postural systolic hypotension (26%) developed the disease, while of 1,939 individuals without this hypotension, 412 (21%) developed dementia.

When the researchers took into account other factors that can increase the chances of dementia, such as diabetes, smoking and alcohol consumption, the chances of developing the disease increased by 37% in those who had orthostatic systolic hypotension.

A second important finding showed that greater changes in systolic blood pressure when rising from a sitting position over time equally increased the odds of dementia.